Donations
to Clubs

From
time to time, we become aware of an individual or an estate wishing to
donate radio equipment to a qualified charity. While many
radio clubs have not-for-profit status with the IRS, relatively few are
qualified under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) to receive
donations that are tax-deductible for the donor. If your
radio club is so qualified and would like to be contacted when donation
opportunities arise, please provide Vice-Director Marty Woll N6VI (n6vi@arrl.org) with point-of-contact
information and, if not listed below, the date of your determination
letter from the IRS.

After
a search of the IRS database, we found the following clubs to be
eligible to receive tax-deductible donations (ARRL-affiliated clubs are in
bold).

Amateur Radio Antenna Defense Foundation Chatsworth, CA

Amateur Radio Council of Arizona Phoenix, AZ

Amateur Radio Digital Communications San Diego, CA

Amateur Radio Educational Foundation Perris, CA

Amateur Radio Newsline Saugus, CA

Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club Lancaster, AZ

ARESLAX, Inc. (supports LA Section ARES) Chatsworth, CA

Arizona Repeater Association, Inc. Phoenix, AZ

Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach Long Beach, CA

California Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club Pasadena,CA

Coachella Valley Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services Indio, CA

Coastal Amateur Radio Emergency Services Fountain Valley, CA

Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club Westlake Village, CA

Coronado Emergency Radio Operators Inc. Coronado, CA

Escondido Amateur Radio Society Escondido, CA

Golden Triangle Amateur Radio Club Wildomar CA

Green Valley Amateur Radio Club Green Valley, AZ

Heaps Peak Radio Association Ontario, CA

Hermosa Beach Amateur Radio Association Hermosa Beach, CA

Hualapai Amateur Radio Club Inc. Kingman, AZ

Korean Amateur Radio Association Los Angeles, CA

London Bridge Amateur Radio Association Inc. Lake
Havasu City, AZ

Mile High Radio Club Idyllwild, CA

Morongo Basin Amateur Radio Club Yucca Valley, CA

Mountain Top Amateur Radio Association Lake Arrowhead, CA

Paso Robles Amateur Radio Club Atascadero, CA

Radio Society of Tucson Tucson, AZ

Ramona Outback Amateur Radio Society Ramona, CA

Riverside County Amateur Radio Association Riverside, CA

San Diego Amateur Radio Services Group La Mesa, CA

San Diego Six Shooters Amateur Radio Club La Jolla, CA

Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club Inc. Santa Barbara, CA

Satellite Amateur Radio Club Inc. Vandenberg AFB, CA

SATERN, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties Section Riverside, CA

Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Scottsdale, AZ

SMRA - Emergency Repeater Network Camarillo, CA

Superstition Amateur Radio Club Mesa, AZ

Ventura County Amateur Radio Club Oxnard, CA

West Valley Amateur Radio Club Sun City, AZ

World Genesis Foundation, Inc. Quartsite, AZ

Yuma Amateur Radio Club Yuma, AZ

Yuma Amateur Radio Hamfest Organization Yuma, AZ

In addition to separately incorporated clubs, radio clubs that are connected with a church or nonprofit school may also qualify. If you represent such a club, you can request your club be added to the above list if your sponsoring exempt organization is prepared to issue donation acknowledgement letters as required by the Internal Revenue Code.

Some donations involve the removal of antennas and/or towers. If your club is considering accepting this kind of donation, be sure you can remove the equipment safely. A scoping visit prior to acceptance is advisable in this situation, as would having liability insurance coverage in case the removal results in any property damage or injury.

Legislative Action Program

The
ARRL maintains a Legislative Action Program for ARRL members to promote
and protect Amateur Radio through coordinated, legitimate
political action at the Federal government level.

Calendar of Events

A Calendar of Events is available on the website. Both current events and
recurring events are listed.

Electronic
Services

The ARRL Web pages are by far the most popular
Amateur Radio Web site since its inception in 1995. The ARRL Web site (http://www.arrl.org/)
is the beginning of many sources of ham services. All kinds of
information is available: membership recruitment/benefits, leadership,
representation, catalog/publications, upcoming events, youth support,
PR, government relations, call sign lookup, technical help, clubs,
testing, contest/award programs, Field Organization. educational
activities. regulations. QSL bureaus. personal/ club insurance,
licensing help (here and abroad), band plans, ARRL Foundation, etc. On
the home page you will find a weekly survey. Many
services can be found via the index or search engine including links to
other related sites such as the FCC. For example, forms necessary for
many of the various programs can be found this way on the League's Web
site.

The ARRL Web site has a section just for League
members called the ARRL WEB EXTRA ( www.arrl.org/members
). You will need your membership number that you can find on your QST
mailing label.

The ARRL Web Extra has news and feature articles
that you won't find anywhere else. Also, there is a product review
archive where you can obtain QST product reviews from as far back as
1980 as well as a search engine of QST/QEX indexes. There is a special
member data page where you can review and update your QST mailing
address. This is the place to go to have W1AW bulletins and The ARRL
Letter sent to you directly by e-mail. Finally, you can obtain a
forwarding e-mail address (<callsign>@ arrl.net). These
services are free for League members. Also, members can now vote for
their favorite monthly QST article (Cover Plaque Award).

Ham Audio
Services

The
weekly ARRL Audio News service is available via telephone at
(860)594-0384 as well as the ARRL Web site. It is normally updated
every Friday by 6 PM (Eastern lime).

Another audio source of ham news is Newsline ( http://www.arnewsline.org
), originally produced locally by producer/editor Bill Pasternak,
WA6ITF (SK). The primary feed dial-up number is (661)296-2407.

Antenna
Happenings

Many of the cities in our Division have been busy
changing or adding to their antenna regulations to address cellular
base towers and small satellite dishes. The impact to existing Amateur
Radio antenna regulations varies from none to substantial. Although
your ARRL headquarters staff or Division representatives have general
information and expertise, it's always best to check with City Hall
regarding current antenna regulations in your city. Contact the City
Clerk's office, or check your city's Web site. An increasing number of
cities (and counties) are posting their zoning codes on the Web in a
searchable format.

DX Century
Club Card Checking

There is a new enhanced DXCC Card Checker program that will save you the necessity of mafling QSL cards to ARRL
HQ but now only one local checker will be needed. Under the new
program, DXCC Card Checkers will be able to check cards for all DXCC
awards (except 160 meters), and all QSLs from any current DXCC Entity
(for contacts less than ten years old). This will apply to both new
awards and endorsements.

ARRL checkers are appointed by the DXCC desk at HQ
from nominations
by Section Managers and ARRL-affiliated DX specialty clubs with at
least 25 members. Currently, only one checker is appointed for each of
the above. The current DXCC Card Checkers in or involved with the SW
Division are:

ARRL
Southwestern Division Special Service Clubs (SSC)

These clubs have gone through a screening process
above and beyond other ARRL-affiliated clubs. They are expected to
provide local public relations, emergency communications, training,
technical advancement and other activities that further the goals of
the Amateur Radio Service. Many SSCs have Award Managers who can check
cards for some of the ARRL operating awards. The following are our
Special Service Clubs :